Greek-Catholic priests in traditional bright cassocks in front of a church in Lviv, Ukraine, in 2018. / Shutterstock
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Red Week in Poland. / Damian Niemczal.
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New Delhi, India, Dec 23, 2021 / 12:00 pm (CNA).
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Aid to the Church in Need UK says it’s been de-platformed by Facebook in response to the charity’s petition drive to stop the forced marriage and conversion of Christian women and girls. / Shutterstock
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 22, 2021 / 12:22 pm (CNA).
A Catholic charity says it’s been censored and de-platformed by Facebook without explanation in connection with the group’s recent petition drive calling for greater efforts to stop the abduction and forced conversion and marriage of Christian women and girls in Islamic countries.
London-based Aid to the Church in Need UK launched its campaign with a series of Facebook ads in early November. The organization’s effort was held in conjunction with the release of its new report, titled “Hear Our Cries,” which details the rampant and widely ignored abuse of women and girls who are Christians or members of other religious minority groups at the hands of Islamic extremists in Nigeria, Mozambique, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and Pakistan.
Within a week, on Nov. 10, Facebook notified the charity that the social media giant was sharply curtailing the number of ads the group could post. The notice didn’t specify a reason.
“This is because too many ads were hidden or reported for ad accounts associated with this business. People hide and report ads because they find them to be offensive, misleading, sexually inappropriate, violent, about a sensitive topic or for other reasons,” the notice states.
The charity says it also has lost access to the WhatsApp instant messaging platform and Instagram, both owned by Facebook.
Ever since the restrictions were imposed, Aid to the Church in Need UK says it has tried, without success, to get an explanation from Facebook. The closest the group has come to receiving a response was an email saying that the matter was being reviewed.
“We totally understand the urgency on this matter and how important this is for you, but such situations require a detailed investigation and solution, and considering the circumstances, we can not offer a time limit,” reads the email, sent by “Alex” from “Facebook Concierge Support.”
John Pontifex, the charity’s head of press and information, told CNA that Facebook’s action effectively “killed” the group’s petition campaign, which wound up garnering 3,210 signatures. That total was about one-quarter of what the charity anticipated, based on the results of a prior petition drive, he said. Pontifex delivered the petitions on Dec. 15 to Fiona Bruce, a Member of Parliament who is Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s special envoy for religious freedom.
In a statement, Neville Kyrke-Smith, national director of Aid to the Church in Need UK, blasted Facebook for its actions.
“We are horrified that our campaign which aims to help suffering women has been censored in such a draconian manner,” he said.
“By claiming to have banned our advert for violating its guidelines, but refusing to say which guidelines or how, Facebook have made themselves judge, jury and executioner.”
Kyrke-Smith went on to accuse Facebook of aiding and abetting the abuses the charity is trying to stop.
“By curbing this campaign, they are silencing these women twice over,” he said. “They are silenced when they are seized from their homes and forced to live with their abductors, and have now been silenced again by Facebook.”
A Facebook spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment prior to publication.
Aid to the Church in Need is a pontifical foundation directly under the Holy See that advocates for people of faith who are “persecuted, oppressed or in need,” according to the group’s mission statement.
Majed, a Syrian refugee living in Zahlé, Lebanon. / Aid to the Church in Need.
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Fr. Bako Francis Awesuh, who was held captive for more than a month by Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria’s Kaduna state earlier this year. / Aid to the Church in Need.
Kaduna, Nigeria, Dec 2, 2021 / 13:05 pm (CNA).
A Nigerian priest who spent more than a month in captivity following his abduction earlier this year has called on the international community to come to the aid of the people of God in Nigeria’s Kaduna State amid heightened insecurity.
Fr. Bako Francis Awesuh, 37, told Aid to the Church in Need Nov. 25 attacks from the predominantly Muslim Fulani herders “have become very common in Kaduna state.”
“I am therefore calling on the international community to please come to our rescue,” Fr. Awesuh told the pontifical charity organization.
In a September 2021 report, the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) ranked Kaduna as one of Nigeria’s least secure states.
Intersociety members said in the report that at least 608 people in Kaduna state have lost their lives in what has been described as “Christian butcheries” perpetrated by Fulani bandits in the first nine months of the year.
The report also indicated that 4,400 Christians in Nigeria have been killed, while at least 20 priests and pastors have been murdered or abducted in the West African nation.
Fr. Awesuh told Aid to the Church in Need that Fulani herdsmen stormed his residence in Kachia Local Government Area at 11 pm May 16.
“I heard gunshots and I quickly turned off the television set. Turning off the light, I saw shadows and heard footsteps. I carefully opened the curtain to see what was going on. I saw five bulky Fulani herdsmen who were well-armed. I recognized them by their dress and by the way they spoke. I stood there confused, not knowing what to do, as I felt completely lost,” the priest recounted.
He added that his body became stiff and started sweating profusely after the attackers knocked at his door.
“They kept on knocking, but, afraid, I refused to open the door. They broke down the door and forced themselves inside. One of the men pushed me to the floor, tied me up and flogged me mercilessly, saying ka ki ka bude mana kofa da tsori (‘you are getting tortured because you kept us standing outside for so long and refused to open the door when we were knocking’). They stripped me naked down to my shorts.”
Abducted along with ten of his parishioners, the priest said that for the next three days they trekked in the bushes feeding only on mangos.
“We were hungry, tired, and weak and our legs hurt a lot and our feet were swollen as we trekked barefoot. There was rain on the second and third days, but we had to keep moving. On the third day, we arrived at a camp deep in the forest,” Fr. Awesuh said.
They remained in the forest for nearly five weeks, where they were fed with rice, oil, and salt. The food was prepared by the women who had been kidnapped, he added.
“We were not allowed to bathe throughout our captivity. We had to urinate and defecate in the hut. We were smelling like dead bodies and the hut smelled like a mortuary. We were tortured and threatened with death if a ransom of 50 million naira ($120,000) was not paid,” Fr. Awesuh said.
He related that “Our families pleaded and negotiated with our kidnappers, until they finally accepted the sum of 7 million naira ($17,000).”
The priest recalled that three parishioners tracked down the abductees, meaning to rescue them, but they lost their lives in the process.
“Oh, what sorrow to have watched three of my parishioners shot dead in cold blood, right before my eyes—and I couldn’t do anything. It was very painful! At this point, I felt helpless, hopeless, useless, and restless! I urgently craved for death to take me, as the scene of the killings kept playing in my head.”
“Whenever I opened my mouth to pray, words failed me. All I could say was ‘Lord have mercy,’” Fr. Awesuh recounted.
He thanked God for his freedom saying, “To the greater glory of God’s name, we were released and came out alive. I narrowly escaped death. I know of so many priests kidnapped before and after me who were killed even after a ransom was paid.”
Fr. Awesuh, whose current location remains undisclosed for security reasons, said he has undergone counselling.
“The love I received and experienced from my family, friends and especially the Church, was enormous,” he concluded.
Red Week 2021 is marked in Bosnia and Herzegovina. / Aid to the Church in Need.
Königstein, Germany, Dec 2, 2021 / 05:20 am (CNA).
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London, England, Nov 24, 2021 / 12:00 pm (CNA).
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Mass is celebrated in Baalbek, Lebanon. / Aid to the Church in Need.
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